Stephen Foskey

I'm not sure how much I'll use it yet, but you can follow me on Bluesky at srfoskey.bsky.social

I have been reading some of the major biographies of Theodore Roosevelt lately (our modern imperialist moment drew me to them) and one of the backdrops of that era is the controversy over lynching. I think a lot of people have never really learned the lessons of that history.

@phl43 I think it has to do with renewable energy getting cheaper and becoming more widespread, so a technological solution to climate change seems more feasible than in the past

It's pretty remarkable how, within maybe 4-5 years, we went from a quasi-millenarist environment of fear about climate change premised on the idea that we were just a few years away from the end of the world to a situation where almost nobody talks or gives a shit about it anymore. There may be a lesson here about the dangers of hyping a risk, which I think might soon become relevant to discussions about AI, because although the apocalyptic cult that developed about the risk posed by climate change was ridiculous, it's not as if the problem had magically disappeared either.

@ngelfond @2024dion @JupiterKunt Michigan lost seats because they were growing more slowly than the US as a whole, not due to population loss in absolute terms (excluding maybe a decade or two)

@2024dion @JupiterKunt If that were true then Michigan would not have lost three congressional seats due to massive loss of population 🤔

Why is Michigan such an unattractive place to move? It's one of the most beautiful states, has one massive metro area and 2-3 booming smaller metros, a diversified economy, extremely affordable housing, a top tier flagship university, etc

@dilanesper I feel like marrying someone you're not attracted to for the money is still something people a. Are aware of and b. Often look down on

What we need to do instead is take it for granted that a ton of heterosexual sex is transactional and instead focus on the more abusive and least safe forms of it. And that means a completely different regulatory approach to sex work.

OK, enough of the Iran War-- you pretty much know what I think. How about a tonic-- a sex thread. And a TABOO one. Let's talk about transactional sex!

1972 ➡️2026 Apollo 17 ➡️ Artemis II

if we cut aid programs that save the lives of more than a million human beings every year because 'we can't afford to do that anymore' and then get into another war in the Middle East I'm going to become the Joker

Operation name trajectory: 1944 — Neptune 1991 — Desert Storm 2001 — Enduring Freedom 2026 — Epic Fury 2030 — Kickass Eagle with Laser Eyes Pew Pew Pew

manufacturing consent by changing Raytheon's name to Blood Bath and Beyond

well well well

Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly-not skilled!

Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin – watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.

You have to be so fucking stupid to vote for Republicans at a federal level. This is all they've ever done my entire life: rip medicine and food out of children and the elderly's hands, crash the economy, run up the deficit, deregulate corruption, and lie about all of it.

Christianity, Islam, and China managed to line up Lent, Ramadan, and Lunar New Year, but the Big Ten and SEC can’t figure out a little scheduling.

I published these strips 10 years ago. I'm sorry, @GreenlandMFA. Good luck, @CityofSarasota .

my red flag is: i don’t want to date. i want magically end up in a long-term, emotionally secure relationship.

@LadySpoonLadySp @ApriiSR Ok, but it still feels kinda weird

@srfoskey @ApriiSR The risk of genetic defect for offspring among second cousins is already so low that third cousins is essentially just unrelated if your only concern is pragmatism

for what n is it culturally permissible to marry / have sex with your nth cousin?

Many people believe the legal threshold for self-defense is lower for government officers than for ordinary citizens. It’s not. There’s one simple test for evaluating whether an officer’s use of force was unlawful or justified as self-defense. Ask yourself: If you, an ordinary citizen, did the same thing the officer did, how would your actions be assessed? If someone were obstructing a street in your neighborhood, and you demanded they move, and everyone were in the same physical positions and took the same actions, would you be justified in shooting the driver of the vehicle? I can say, unequivocally, that if you did the same thing the ICE officer in Minneapolis did, you would be found guilty of a crime, and your claim of self-defense would be rejected outright.

It may sound unlikely but sometimes game theory helps understand the actions and motives of the Trump Administration. Many institutions or systems are premised on the idea that they are a solution to a collective action problem (or N-player prisoners dilemma). They are situations where it benefits everyone to cooperate; but where defection leads a short term advantage, if the other side continues to cooperate. The original prisoners' dilemma has this dynamic. Both prisoners are better off if they keep silent. But if one prisoner rats out the other, he's better off; but if they both tell on the other, that's the worst possible outcome. The Trump administration has learned it can hit "defect" on several long-established systems of order (the laws of war, for example), and reap short-term gains. It is these short term gains based on rule-breaking that are yielding the victory celebrations. But the theory also predicts that, in time, other players in the system will stop cooperating and stop playing by the old rules -- and they will start defecting as well (a tit-for-tat strategy). And that will ultimately yield an outcome bad for everyone -- like a real war. Unfortunately that's where it looks we are heading: a world that is ultimately worse for everyone in it.

american craftsmanship is declining. 20 years ago, if you wanted to manufacture a reason for a war, you had to make a map and do a little presentation at the UN. now you just say anything.